Grass cutter and hedge trimmer



April 11, 1939. J. A. ORR

GRASS CUTTER AND HEDGE TRIMMER I Filed May 4, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet lApril 11, 1939. I J. A. ORR

GRASS CUTTER AND HEDGE TRIMMER Filed May 4, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fiyl58 i E rm.-

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[7ZV67ZZ07 Patented Apr. 11, 1939' .UNITEDSTATES PATIENT OFFICE JohnAlexander Orr, chica'gmflll. Application May 4, 1938, Serial No. 77,8613 Claims. (CL 56 -25) This invention relates to improvements in grasscutters and hedge trimmers of a type similar to that in my co-pendingapplication, Ser. No. 4,849, for Electric cutters and trimmers.

One object is to provide a grass cutter and hedge trimmer provided witha knife having blades formed with oppositely disposed cutting edges ofidentical formation and extent so that one side of the blade will notcut more material than the other. i

A further object is to provide a grass cutter and hedge trimmer, motordriven, having novel motor cooling means. A still further object is toprovide a machine of this type having means for yieldingly permittingrotation of the knife shaft should the rotary blade strike an unyieldingob-' ject thereby preventing breakage of the shaft under suchcircumstances.

A still further object is to provide a grass cutter and hedge trimmerthat will not accumulate sap or collect the material but by the knifethus insuring free operation of the knife at all times.

A still further object is to provide a machine of the type having novelknife protecting and guiding means whereby uniform cutting operationsalongthe faces or sides of stones, curbs, and the facesof objectsgenerally may be positively effected. A further object is to provide anelectric grass cutter and hedge trimmer having a motor fully shieldedfrom short-circuiting during its operation is prevented.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists inthe combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter fullydescribed, pointed out in the claims and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings which form a part of this application for patent and in which-.Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the device as a grass cutter.

Fig. 2 is a view of Fig. 1 in side elevation.

Fig. 3 is an inverted plan view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the device as a hedge trimmer, illustrating aslight modification.

Fig. 5 is a view of Fig. 4 in side elevation.

Fig. 6 is an inverted plan view of Fig. 4 with the collar removed.

Fig. 7 is a view in side elevation and partly in section of a modifiedform of the device.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view of the device illustrating anovel method of securing the blade to its shaft.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary view of Fig. 2.

Fig. 10 is a detail view of an adjustable guard shoe illustrating itsapplication. Fig. 11 is a sectional view of Fig. 8.

moisture so that RElSSUED BEG in 1939 Like reference characters denotecorresponding parts throughout the several views.

The present grass cutter and hedge trimmer may be operated from anelectric outlet conveniently located, such as an outlet in the garage, aporch outlet, or from outlets disposed any place about the grounds, suchas in the yard, in cemetery grounds, .etc. or from a portable powerplant which is supplied at low cost as a part of one form of the unit. I

Referring now to Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive and Figs. 9" and 10 thereference numeral I denotes the motor casing containing an electricmotor provided with the motor shaft 2 to the upper end of which a smallfan 3 is secured inside the easing cap 4 that is perforated in its upperend and therein the screen 5 is fitted, for cooling the motor. The motorcasing is formed at its lower end with the flared skirt 6 from thecircular terminal edge I of which a pair of guard teeth 8 anddiametrically opposite thereto a similar pair of guard teeth 9 extend.Upon the same side of the pairs of guard teeth along the edge 1 and .Inuse the guard teeth 8 and 9 ride along the lateral face of a stone orcurb and serve as a spacer guide for the blade and this in time tends towear the teeth down. To take care of this these teeth may be bridged asshown in Fig. 10

to form an ear l6 to which the guard shoe I1 is secured which shoe isformed with an elongated slot l8 through which a bolt secured by thebutterfly nut l9 extends and through the ear l6 to adjustably secure theshoe in position. The shoe l1 terminates outwardly in a pair of prongsthat ride against a surface in the same manner as the guard teeth 8 or 9and for the same purpose.

The motor is provided with an inverted cupshaped hood 20 that fits overits upper end, the diameter being somewhat greater than that of the endof the motor casing so that an air space is formed between the wall ofthe motor casing.

weather and so prevents short-circuiting of the motor. The perforations22 in the casing are covered by an angular shield 23 secured to thecasing, a portion of this shield being spaced outwardly directlyopposite the said perforations to protect them .from dust, bits of cutmaterial, moisture and extraneous matter generally which might otherwiseclog them.

A metal strap 24 passing about the motor casing has its endsv secured tothe handle 25 by means of which the device is moved about in use. Anelectric cord 28 connected to the motor runs'to an electric outlet or tothe power plant when the same is used. Secured to the skirt 8 of themotor casing by the nut 21 is the angular bracket 28 that extends aboutthe edge I. and then below the skirt in spaced relation thereto andtransversely thereof, the free end 29 extend-' ing slightly beyond theedge of skirt 1 and having secured thereto an angular guard hook 30, thefree edge thereof being spaced outwardly from the skirt edge 1 andsubstantially in the plane thereof.

A pan-shaped runner 3| of lesser diameter than the lower edge of theskirt 1 is secured to the bracket 28 for travel over the ground when thedevice is used as a grass cutter, this pan being spaced below theadjacent end of the mo tor shaft whlch shaft end has secured thereto therotary knife 32 formed at its ends with the cutting edges 33 which areformed upon opposite sides of the blade and are beveled in oppositedirections, said cutting edges of the blade being of a common length,each extending from one end of the blade to a blade notch 34', thisinsuring that one end of the blade will not cut a greater swath than theother. The length of the blade is such that its cutting edges lie beyondthe edge I of the skirt. The blade is spaced slightly from the skirt endand the cut material will ride clear of the skirt without fouling thesame. Referring again to the guard hook the same extends above the edgeI of the skirt 6 and is disposed beyond the ends of the rotating knife32 to afford protection for the same. In grass cutting where the grassmay grow against a wall or like object the cutter may be moved over theterrain with the guard hook 30 riding against the wall to protect theknife from the same and at the same time to engage the grass and movethe same into contact with the knife to permit it to perform the cuttingoperation.

When the device is used as a hedge cutter or trimmer the bracket 28 andpan 3| are detached and the toothed collar 35 applied over the handleand directly upon the skirt 6 and held in place by the same nut 21 usedat other times in connection with the bracket 28. The collar 35 isformed with opposed marginal extensions 36 and with a plurality of teeth31 which cooperate with the teeth 1, 8 of the motor skirt to preventcontact of the knife with stones and likeobjects that may lie in thepath of the device.

Referring now to Fig. 7 the motor casing 38 is separate from the skirtbut bolted thereto, the motor casing being offset with respect to theskirt 33. The motor shaft 2 extends through a ballbearing housing 40that extends from the motor easing into the skirt and said shaft hasfast thereon a pinion 4| in mesh with a pinion 42 nut is detailed inFig. 8. Should the blade strike an obstruction that would arrest itsrotation the spring washer is sufficiently resilient to permit the shaftto rotate and so avoid shaft breakage. This form of the device isdiiferent from the other form only in the pinion driven knife shaft;

In Fig. 8 the motor shaft 2 extends through a sleeve bearing 48 threadedto receive the nut 43 that secures the skirt to the motor casing. Thenut 45 is formed with a sleeve 45a to which the spring washer 45 issecured, said washer being retained in place by the nut 41 so that theknife 32 is secured to the motor shaft for yielding rotation therewithto permit the shaft to continue rotation should the blade strike anobject and its rotation be arrested thereby, this con-- struction beingthe same as that set up in Fig. 7.

In operation the motor is started thus rotating the knife 32 to cut thegrass or hedge. When cutting grass the pan 3| rides over the grassspacing the knife a proper distance thereabove. The guard hooks andguard teeth space the device from stones and like objects,.curbs, gravemarkers and. the like to prevent contact therewith of the knife, thesame being true of the guard shoes II. The cutter and trimmer may bemoved about the tops of bushes by its handle 25, inclined at any angledesired, moved laterally or to or from the operator. Where the skirt ismade separate from the motor casting and secured thereto by sleeve 48and nut 49 the nut may be loosened slightly so that the skirt may bemoved around, relative to the casing, so that hedge may be cut with alateral movement instead of a forward movement as would be necessary ifthe skirt remained in the position in which it is used for cuttinggrass.

What is claimed is: 1. In grass cutters and hedge trimmers, a motorcasing, a skirt at one end thereof, guard teeth carried by said skirt,and guard shoes secured to said guard teeth and adjustable relativethereto.

2. In a grass cutter and hedge trimmer, a skirt, uard teeth carriedthereby, an ear bridging said teeth, and a guard shoe adjustably securedto said gear.

3. In a grass cutter and hedge trimmer, a motor casing, a skirt at oneend thereof, an angu-' lar bracketsecured to said skirt and extendingtransversely thereof, a pan-shaped runner of lesser diameter than thefree end of said skirt secured to said bracket, and a guard hook securedto said bracket and extending upwardly beyond the free edge of saidskirt.

JOHN ALEXANDER ORR.

